


Seconds Count

by The_Dancing_Walrus



Category: The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Beating, Kissing, M/M, Protectiveness, Sexist Language, Tumblr Prompt, but mostly a meta getting the drop on Barry and Len, coldflash - Freeform, that is probably unhealthy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 13:23:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5292644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dancing_Walrus/pseuds/The_Dancing_Walrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s crazy. </p><p>She’s crazy and she wants to kill him and the really scary thing is she might just do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seconds Count

**Author's Note:**

> So the prompt comes from ColdFlashTrash on tumblr (apparently I can't use html code)
> 
> I put Flash comics in the tags because Kane isn't in the show (yet) and the characterisation is influenced by my love of Geoff Johns run on Flash.
> 
> Prompt at the bottom. I didn't claim it or anything cos I'm a ludite who has no tumblr. But hopefully this is not a major breach of internet etiquette and I won't be bombarded with weaponised cats.

She’s crazy.

 

She’s crazy and she wants to kill him and the really scary thing is she might just do it.

 

Magnetism- Electromagnetism. Cisco had been making a joke about the Xmen before she’d ripped the com system out.

 

She’d told them she wanted to help-

 

She had, kind of, at first. They wouldn’t have found Cold as quickly without her, wouldn’t have been able to get him alone. She’d flicked her wrist and the cold gun had ripped itself out of Snart’s hands, hit the opposite wall high up. Barry had been distracted by it, that and the look on Snart’s face which was how she’d managed to wrap the…whatever it was around his wrist, torn the com system out-

 

And then the defibrillator-

 

The suit had gone stiff as the heating system had seized around him. He’d tried to vibrate out and she’d whammied him with something that was like setting his bones alight, like being struck by lightning all over again-

 

It still hurts.

 

She drifts towards him, the metal around her looks almost molten. A lava lamp without the glass.

 

“Kane,” He gasps and she smiles.

 

“It’s a bomb,” She tells him and the thing on his wrist lights up briefly. Armed.

 

She sounds pleased. She crouches just out of reach, iron and steel turning gentle circles around her.

 

“You remember the Trickster’s bomb?” She asks, looking at the metal as it morphs and folds and oh God he remembers that bomb.

 

“It’s like that.” Kane continues. “But this one will go off if you speed up.”

 

She looks at him and _smiles_ and oh _God_ he’s going to die and-

 

Snart barrels into her.

 

It takes her by surprise and she goes over and if Kane wasn’t a meta he’d really need to rescue her because Snart is bigger and stronger and-

 

Metal loops around Cold’s midsection, pulls him up into the air and hurls him across the room. Snart hits the wall with his shoulder and a thud loud enough to make Barry wonder whether he’s going to get up. And usually he’d check but-

 

Kane sits up and wipes blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of one hand. She’s looking at Snart and Barry should get up and do something even if it is at normal speed but he doesn’t, he has no idea-

 

Kane’s head turns and his perception must have gone into over-drive because it looks so, so slow. He watches her glare form for what feels like five minutes and he can feel the weight round his wrist the entire time, he can see the light in the corner of his eye.

 

Kane whammies him again. His back arches, limbs shake and it’s probably only a second but it feels like ten minutes trying, trying, _trying_ not to speed away.

 

She stops and he’s breathing too fast, his chest vibrating with it.

 

Which is when he sees Snart move.

 

Kane says something about being better than him, better than the Flash, that she’s not going to let scum just run around free. Barry isn’t paying as much attention as he should. Because Cold is staggering slowly to his feet, bent and leaning against the wall-

 

In retrospect Barry isn’t sure what he expected, that Cold would leave, or call the cavalry or something. He didn’t expect Snart to straighten, throw his shoulders back and-

 

“HEY BITCH!” Snart bellows and Kane’s scowl snaps towards him.

 

It’s insane for a thousand different reasons. He’s swaying a little, punch-drunk and may be concussed. Any weapon he has is going to be as useless as the cold gun against Kane especially if she’s paying attention. She could kill him so easily and Barry heals-

 

“What’s wrong?” Cold snarls. “You too chicken-shit for a real fight?”

 

Kane stands. The look she gives Snart isn’t anything like the way she looks at Barry, it’s thoughtful, almost mild.

 

“I was going to kill you anyway.” She murmurs.

 

The shining droplets rise back around her. They fly across the room like Mardon’s hail, bullets the size of fists. Snart swears and starts running.

 

Everything slows down again. Each piece of shrapnel seems to take minutes to bury itself in the wall and that’s when Barry realises that he’s panicking, he’s freezing-

 

It’s not right. He’s the hero. He should be able to do something even if he can’t run.

 

He takes a deep breath and holds it for what feels like twenty minutes but is probably less than a second. It helps him focus, gets him back to everyone else’s speed-

 

The metal all seems to hit the wall at once. The noise rushes up like a wall.

 

Slowly, carefully, he starts to get up. The bomb is at his wrist so may be it’s just that arm that can’t speed up. May be-

 

Snart trips and Barry doesn’t have time to talk himself out of risking it any more. He vibrates his feet, a short burst as fast he can and the concreate cracks making Kane stagger.

 

Her attention’s on him again.

 

It takes an age for her to raise her hand. It takes the iron bar half an hour to sail across the room at him. And all he can do is wait for it.

 

Barry closes his eyes.

 

Through the stretched out crawl of it all he realises that Snart is yelling again.

 

The bar never hits.

 

He hears Len calling Kane a pussy and a punk and a fat ugly _bitch._ There’s a dull, repetitive thudding that punctuates the words and Barry opens his eyes in time to see the bar come down across Len’s shoulders smashing him back into the floor.

 

Barry’s breath catches and he doesn’t- Len could _die_ doesn’t he get that? Doesn’t Len understand that if Kane breaks his arms it’ll take him months to recover while Barry could clear worse before the end of the day? Why is he goading her, challenging her, making her-

 

Why doesn’t he just stay down?

 

The bar comes down again and Cold rolls. It catches his leg and he swears explosively. Curses as if it’s a medical treatment and calls Kane a _bitch_ as if it’s the next best thing to a punch.

 

The bar rises.

 

And Barry realises with a jolt that he’s nearest to the cold gun. That Kane’s attention is entirely on Len and-

 

Slowly, carefully he edges backwards. He tries to catch Len’s eye but Len isn’t looking at Barry, he’s too busy spitting on Kane’s shoes.

 

Barry reaches the wall and the bar comes down-

 

He slides down the wall, stretches his arm out so slowly-

 

The bar rises and the world speeds up again for a moment.

 

Kane is dangerous and crazy and despite that Barry doesn’t want to kill her. Accidentally or in self defence too many metas have died meeting the Flash and-

 

Barry’s hand closes around the cold gun. The bar comes down and Len coughs wetly before calling Kane a freak.

 

Barry takes a deep breath and aims the gun at the bomb around his wrist.

 

There’s a flash of pale, freezing fire and it’s agony. His hand goes black-

 

It’s just basic chemistry, if it’s cold enough the explosives can’t burn-

 

He smashes his arm against the wall at mach 1. The bomb shatters and so does his wrist.

 

Kane is turning as slowly as dripping pitch.

 

Lightning sparks around him-

 

He’s across the room in less time than it takes Kane to blink. He pushes her aside, half-hoping she hits the wall and it knocks her out because he’s not in any shape to stay and fight.

 

He grips the gun tighter, scoops up Captain Cold.

 

And leaves.

 

-

 

He stops almost on the other side of the city. An alley. It’s a good thing it’s so late really, there isn’t a lot left of the suit and-

 

Beside him Cold staggers and spits blood.

 

“Are you ok?” Barry gasps.

 

“Why didn’t you shoot her?” Snart grits out at almost the same time.

 

Neither of them really have a good answer.

 

Barry drops the gun and slides slowly down the wall. Snart shoves his shoulder into it like he needs it to stay up. For a while they just breath raggedly.

 

Barry looks up at the same time Snart looks down and there really isn’t any way not to meet his eyes.

 

“You’re an idiot.” He tells Barry, as if he’s announcing a major scientific breakthrough.

 

“ _I’m_ an idiot?!” Barry shoots back. “She could have _killed_ you!”

 

Snart smirks and it doesn’t look nearly as infuriating when he’s sporting a black eye.

 

“Scarlet,” He drawls. “I didn’t know you cared.”

 

It makes Barry laugh and he only sounds a little bit hysterical and then it turns into a cough because it’s cold and most of the top half of his suit got ripped away.

 

Snart moves around him slowly, favouring his right leg. He makes a hissing sound when he bends to pick up the cold gun. Barry lets him take it.

 

“Why did you do that?” Barry asks, tilting his head back as Len straightens. “I mean you- that was protecting me wasn’t it? Why did you do that?”

 

Snart pauses for a whole quarter-of-a-second with the gun part way to the holster. Anyone slower might not have noticed. Len moves more slowly putting the gun back as well and without that pause it would probably look like-

 

It’s not just his injuries, Barry knows that. Snart’s an excellent liar, but Barry can see every minute pause, shift and hesitation. It’s how Barry knows there’s good there, because he’s got the time to see it.

 

“Don’t read too much into it Scarlet,” Cold advises him. “You were my best chance of getting out alive.”

 

Which is part of the truth. Barry almost calls him on it, mouth opening and closing again too fast to see.

 

“Didn’t think you’d shoot yourself to do it though.” Snart observes.

 

Barry swallows. Snart stares at him for what feels like twenty minutes.

 

“I…heal.” Barry says finally, which Snart already knows.

 

It gets him a fleeting frown that disappears under ‘Captain Cold’ bravado.

 

“So you shot yourself in the arm. Like I said kid, you’re an idiot.”

 

Barry concedes that it might not have been his best plan. Len sighs and staggers back a few steps. Barry scrubs his hands through his hair.

 

“Scarlet?” Cold asks finally. “Where the hell are we?”

 

“Errr-”

 

“Wonderful.” Snart says sarcastically.

 

“I’ll give you a lift back into town.” Barry volunteers. “Just…give me a minute.”

 

Snart raises an eyebrow at him and leans back against the wall, closer this time. Barry tilts his head back until it hits the wall, closes his eyes and breathes.

 

He needs to call Cisco and Caitlin soon, let them know he’s alive and that Kane is crazy and-

 

He opens his eyes to find Leonard Snart staring at him.

 

“This lift into town,” Snart says finally. “Isn’t going to be to Iron Height or the nearest precinct.”

 

Barry shakes his head. “I owe you.”

 

Len snorts, like the bruises Barry can see coming up on his face are funny.

 

And may be it's that or may be Barry really is an idiot but he wants to-

 

Instead he sighs and pushes himself to his feet.

 

He asks Snart where he wants to go and Cold rattles off an address. It’s an apartment in a quiet part of town. The building is a little bit run down and the door falls open when Barry’s hand vibrates against the lock.

 

And he should probably take his hand away from Snart’s waist but opts to help him inside instead.

 

It must hurt an awful lot because Snart doesn’t pull away.

 

They stop in the middle of the living room and Snart doesn’t pull away.

 

“I ummm kind of imagined your place would be neater.” Barry says, simply to have something to say.

 

“I haven’t come back here in a while.”

 

“Oh. Right.”

 

He really needs to let go of Captain Cold’s waist.

 

He turns a little and Len is staring at him again and they’re really close together and Barry leans towards him and-

 

Oh. This is a bad idea.

 

Len hesitates for what feels like five minutes and is actually three quarters of a second.

 

And then he’s kissing Captain Cold.

 

It makes time do strange things, like his body doesn’t know whether it should be moving at a snail’s pace or a jet engine’s.

 

It takes an hour and it takes two minutes and it takes half a second all at once.

 

Then Len pulls back abruptly, coughing his lungs up and staggers out of Barry’s grasp.

 

When he straightens his expression is-

 

“Jesus, Barry,” He says finally. “You know that’s a terrible idea.”

 

“I-” Barry starts but Snart stares at him and-

 

“Yeah.” Barry admits and it seems sour. “You’re right. It is.”

 

Len hobbles over to the couch and collapses. After a while he makes a shooing motion at Barry which could be an actual dismissal or just Snart being an ass.

 

“I-” Barry begins but thinks better of it after a pause so quick Len would never even notice it was there. “Go to a doctor. Please.”

 

Snart nods once. “Gimme three days before you bust this place.”

 

“OK.” Barry murmurs.

 

And he’s gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Full Prompt:
> 
> 'Imagine Barry and Len both getting kidnapped and tortured by the same meta, but Len basically goads him and talks shit the entire time to take the meta’s attention away from Barry and focused on him. He’s had lots of practice during his childhood. One thing he knows he’s good at is protecting people, even if that means he ends up bloody and broken himself.
> 
> And yeah, Barry went on and on about the good he saw in Len. But seeing it firsthand? Seeing Len putting himself in harms way, just to protect Barry? He knows right then, that he was right all along.
> 
> But Barry doesn’t get why he’s doing this. Barry can heal much faster and take a lot more pain. So, why is Len doing this for him? How come every time this meta looks like he’s gonna let Len rest and give Barry a turn, Len makes some stupid comment that earns him a kick in the stomach or a punch in the face?'


End file.
